Arrived: What a Word; What a Day!

I heard the pilot announce, "We have arrived..." I didn't hear the rest of what he said, but experience tells me it was followed by the name of the town, the current time, the current temperature, and a "Thank you for choosing United Airlines; we know you have other carriers to choose from and are grateful you picked us." I only heard one word: arrived.

(Photo courtesy of Christina Calderone Carter)

Arrived.
Journey complete.
I step out of transition and into adventure.
Something has ended and a new begins.
I was once there; now I am here.

Arrived.
A word filled with hope, or disappointment.
A word wrought with expectation, or fear.
A word with a question always attached, "What next?"
We can ask the question with a sense of anticipation; or we can say it with a sigh of sadness (I want to choose the anticipation, every time!).

Arrived.
Sometimes there are detours we must make before we can REALLY hear the word.
Detours are inconvenient.
They are frustrating.
They are incredibly maddening, because they mean a delay to arrived.
However, they can be an arrival all their own.
A subset to the adventure...to our character.

Arrived.
No matter how you feel about what's outside the door of arrived, there is an undeniable reality about this word:

There will always be an unknown piece to the puzzle of our life that we can pick up and put into place in the grand picture meant to display the splendor of God's glory. 
Another piece added to His story in me.

Another piece filled with spectacular color, or maybe a blackness that is hard to file away in the midst of all the other dark pieces.
When we find where and how this new piece fits, we begin to realize that each one is needed to create the whole of who I am...who He has created me to be.

Arrived.
I am on a pilgrimage to hear the word arrived.
An expedition to find every last piece and complete the puzzle.
I have no idea how long it will take to gather them all.
He does. My Lord knows the end from the beginning.
He is the Alpha and Omega.
The writer of the story.
The puzzle finisher.

Arrived.
The truth is that as much as I love hearing the word arrived along the way, it's just a temporary stop.
I tend to want to rush the trip: always looking forward to the next leg.
Instead, I'd prefer to embrace each place, no matter how difficult the circumstances may be.
When I do, I rub shoulders with new friends, learn new lessons, live more fully...

Then one day, I will hear these words:

You have arrived...

welcome into the joy of the Kingdom...

the current time is eternity...

the temperature is always equitable...

thanks for flying along IN CHRIST...
the only carrier worthy of choosing!

"Well done, good and faithful servant!"

OH, what a day that will be!